Cartridge for use in apparatus for decarbonizing engines



1.. JOHN 1,878,401

CARTRIDGE FOR USE. IN APPARATUS FOR DECARBONIZING ENGINES Sept. 20, 1932 Original Filed Aug. 15.1928

Lillian John, 55,

Patented Sept. 20, 1932 UNITED. 'srA'rEs Parent operas LII-LIAN JOHN, OF MIDDLETOWN TOWNSHIP, MONMOUTI-I COUNTY, NEW JER$EY,

SIG-NOB, BY MESNE. ASSIGNMENTSjTO E. SEIFERT/ OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS cAnrRIneE roansn Iii meme FOR DECARBONIZING Emeritus lorigi'nal application filed August 15, 1928, Serial No. 299,863. Divided and this application filed January 7, 1930. Serial No. 419,190. i I

The invention relates general to a car tridge constituting a replaceable element for use in an apparatus designedto feed an=in-- .,.te'rnal combustion engine a vapor capable of 1 "removing or assisting to remove carbon deposits from the engine and this application constitutes a division of my copending application on method and apparatus for decarbonizing engines, Serial No. 299,863 filed August 15, 192

In the companion application it is sug gested that apparatus be provided by means of which a gaseous oxidizing reagent capable of removing the carbon .deposits in the engine be introduced into the combustionsupporting air as it passes into the engine carbureter. v

The primary object of this invention is to provide an improved form of vaporizer and "specifically an improved form of replaceable receptacle, hereinafter referred to as a cartridge, for storing and releasing the oxidizing reagent with which the vaporizer is charged ,from time to time.

cally relating to the cartridgeelement of the apparatus is to provide a structure which can be manufactured with the volatile oxidizing substance sealed therein and which is pro "vided with self-contained means for breaking the seal and for forming an opening of limited but definite dimensions and which opening can be conveniently formed by the operafior at the time when it is desired to replenish the vaporizer with a fresh cartridge.

Various other objects and advantages of the invention will be in part obvious from a I 'tions of the preferred method and other few Still another object of the invention specifi Fig. i with the cork stopper-removed the fabric roll. 5

".onsists in certain new and novel modifica tures of construction and combinationsof parts hereinafter set forthand claimed. In the accompanying drawing:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary view ofpart of an automobile engine showing one position in;

which a vaporizer may be used provided with a cartridge of the type featured in this disclosure Fig. 2 is an enlarged axial section taken through the vaporlzer shown in slde elevation in Fig. 1 and equipped with one form of cartridge constituting a preferred embodiment of the invention herein featured;

Fig. 3 is a view in front elevation of the vaporizer shown in Fig. 2, looking atthe same from the right side Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the cartridge shown in Fig. 2 and which cartridge in Fig. 4

is in a partly open position and in Fig. 2 is a of the fabric in its fully opened position; i

Fig. 5 is a view in perspective and releasing 'ribbon forming part of the cartridge contents, showlng the'same an the course of construction; and t Fig. 6 is an end view of the cart-ridge of to show Referring to Fig. 1, there is shown p'artof an automotive vehicle 10 provided with a multi-cylinder engine 11 having a manifold also disclosed the side of the radiator 14 posi- 75,, 12 supplied from a carburetor 13.5 There is tioned between which and the engine is the fan 15 and in'general it is to be understood that the showing is intended to represent a conventional form of automotivepowei' plant 0f the internal combustion type. A-vaporizer 16 is positioned in the path of the hot all 7 drawn by the fan through the radiator and is 8 into the air intake port of the carburetor 18. p

disposed in position to discharge its Contents It is also suggested that the vaporizer :16 maybe hungin an exposed positionin ad- Vance of the. radiator- 14. This has anadvantag'ein-that it maybe recharged without lifting the engine hood, and as the contained cartridge would in this case be exposed to a current of cold air the life of the cartridge would be prolonged over that of the cartridge when positioned in the path of the hot air from the fan as shown in Fig. 1.

Referring to Fig. 2 for a detailed description of the vaporizer, it will be noted that it consists primarily of an L-or J-shaped hollow drawn metal tube 17 the lower end of which extends horizontally and is flared as shown at 18 to form an air intake facing the fanand radiator. The upper end of the tube 17 is open to provide an entrance for the cartridges 19 hereinafter described. The tube is provided adjacent its upper end with an integral inwardly projecting periph-'" eral flange 20 constitutinga cartridge seat and having an opening 21 centered therein and designed to dispose the cartridge in its position centered within the tube 17 and in the path of the air passing through the vaporizer as indicated by the arrows in Fig. 2.

The open upper end of the tube 17 is closed by means of a cap 22 secured rigidly to the lower end of a hanging plate23. This plate is provided with an aperture 24 through which may be threaded a link 25 suspended from the hood rod 26 at the top of the engine closure 27 The upper end of the tube 17 is provided with a-bale 41 designed to engage in a slot 29 formed in the side of the plate 23 in order to secure the closure to the vaporizer or, more properly, to secure the vaporizer in position suspended from the link 25. The cap 22 is provided with an L-shaped nipple 28v which is connected by means of a rubber tubng 30 w th a nozzle 31 terminating a few inches from and directing its contents into the air intakeport of the carburetor 13. It is appreciated that an air conduit is provided by the relatively wide bore of the tube 17 and which conduit discharges through a tube of relatively small cross sectional area directly into the fuel line'leading into the engine.

Referring to the cartridge shell or container 42, it will be noted that it is of cylindrical form having a closed end 32 and an open end 33 which open end is adapted to be closed by means of a cork stopper 34. A pin 35' extends through the side of'the container same to the container.

Opposite ends of this pin project beyond the outhne of the container and provide diametrically spaced means 36 for suspending disclosure to use other equivalent liquid OXir container and the providing of the requisite 7 exposure along the entire length of the car-- tridge is attained by positioning in the container a U-shapedreleasing ribbon, one leg 38 of which'is'contained iii'and centered in the roll of fabric andthe other leg 39 of which is positioned between the roll of fabric and the adjacent side of the container. The free end of the leg 39 is; provided with a hook extension: 40 .which extends outwardly of the container 42 and normally overlaps its open end. Thisextension 40 provides a. handle by means of which the releasing ribbon is drawn outwardly and downwardly as shown in Fig. 4thus tearing a slot opening'in the side of the container. o

Thiscontainer is formed of an'easily' tearable material and in the instant case is formed of thin sheet lead. 'It'will be obvious that as the ribbon is drawn outwardly and downwardly as indicated in Fig.4, a narrow slit 43 will be formed from end to end ofthe:

lead tube as particularly shown in Fig. 2.;

At the termination of the slitting operation the cut away strip of material 44 is torn OH, and the releasing ribbon is withdrawn entirely from the container and thrown away, leaving the cartridge in the condition shown in Fig. 2.-

In forming the fabric roll in the cartridge,-

the fabric is preferably cut into a rectangular sheet and rolled about the leg 38 ofthe releasing ribbon as shown in Fig.5. The outer leg 39 of the ribbon is then bent into position laying flat against the fabric roll and inserted into the open end of the cartridge shell 42 as shown in Fig. 6. The felt ,roll is then saturated with the'oxidizing substance and j the cork stopper forced into closing position. and through the cork stopper to secure the 'In operation it will be simply necessary to open a fresh cartridge as. thus described.

remove "the bale 41 tlius releasing the tube 17 which can beheld in the hand while being recharged. The prepared cartridge is then inserted into the top of the tube and the same restored in position with the cap closing its upper end. By replacing the bale in the position'shown in Fig. 3, the parts are locked in'position and the device as'a whole isin position readyto function.

The engine iscaused to-operate, as for in- Y stance in the illustrated case the vehicle is caused to run' a distance in one case of about seven miles. During thistime the heated air from the fan passes into and through the vaporizer subjecting the exposed surface of the saturated felt to the volatilizing action of the warm air current. The same action takes place when the vaporizer 16 is secured to the front of the radiator except, of course, that the rate of evaporation is slower. In either case small particles of the ammonium car- .oonate or other oxidizing reagent used are picked up by the air stream and passed through the conduitthrough the carburetor and then into the manifold of the engine. Considering that in one practical actuation of the process ten or fifteen minutes running of the engine was required to effect the cleaning out of all of the carbon and that less than one quarter of an ounce of the water solution of the ammonium carbonate was used, the percentage of ammonium carbonate particles present per unit volume of air passed into the engine is too small to ascertain and accordingly in the following claims the reference to a small quantity of oxidizing reagent present is intended to indicate the amount that would be present when a small area of fabric saturated with a water solution of the reagent is exposed to one vaporizing effect of a large volume of air either hot or cold.

It has been found that on removing the spark plugs from the engine previously fouled plugs were clean and all evidence of carbon deposit had disappeared.

As there Was no evidence of scoring visible on the inner side of the cylinder and as the cleaning out of the cylinder had. taken place without any noticeable change in the functioning of the engine except that which would be expected from a freshly decarbonized engine, it is assumed that the carbon simply passed off with the exhaust gases in such finely comminuted or gaseous form as to prevent it being noted.

It is not regarded as necessary to maintain uhe feed of oxidizing gas herein featured at all times and it is therefore sufficient to insert a new cartridge from time totime and whenever it is felt that the carbon accumulation should be removed to improve the efiiciency of the engine.

I claim:

1. A cartridge comprising a container formed of easily tearable sheet metal and aaving an open end, a closure for said end, a. fabric in the container saturated with a volatile substance, a U-shape releasing metallic ribbon having one leg embedded in the fabric, the other leg positioned between he fabric and the side of the tearable container and said other leg having an end portion projecting exteriorally of the container through the open end and providing a handle for engaging the ribbon when it is deired to cause the ribbon to tear out a poruion of the side and thus form a slit in the metal of the container and expose the fabric 1 with its volatile substancev 2. A cartridge comprising a container:

the containercomprising a releasingribbon having a flat side of uniform widthextending along the inner side of thecontainer engaging the same fiatwise and having anendpro-' jecting exteriorally of the container, said end providing a handle by'means of whichthe ribbon may begrasped and pulled'avvay from the container. in tearing away a strip from the side thereof thereby to form aslot opening to expose the contained volatile substance. V

3. A cartridge comprising a thin sheet metal container, fabric in said container saturated with a solution of a volatile chemical sealed within the container, and means for tea-ring an opening in the form of a slot of substantially uniform width in the side of the container thereby to expose the saturated fabric and thus permitthe chemical to evaporate and escape through the torn slotted opening.

4. A cylindrical cartridge comprising a container closed at one end and open at the other, a closure for the open end, a fabric in the container, a releasing ribbon having a portion disposed between the fibre and the side of the container and having an end projectingexteriorally of the container and pro-- viding a handle and said ribbon acting when the handle is drawn along the container to a cartridge for use in charging a carbon re-' mover apparatus, comprising a thin sheet metal container, capable of being readily torn to expose its contents, self-contained means for tearing the same, and a vaporizable substance capable of giving off a carbon-affecting gas, sea-led Within said container and adapted to be exposed for evaporation when the container is torn open.

7. An article of manufacture constituting a cylindrical chemical containing cartridge normally sealing its contents, and provided with self-contained means for ripping an opening slot lengthwise along one side of the cartridge. I

8. A sealed cylindrical container of easily tearable sheet metal, open at one end, means fon'closin'g; said open end; a flat tearing; de Vice having a portion engaging fiatwise against: the innerside of the=side ofthecontain'er, extending substantiallyalong the entire length thereof and overlapping the edge defining said open end, and adapted when drawn across said side to cut therefrom a. narrow strip of material leaving a slot form of opening along the length of the container to expose its contents.

Signed at Atlantic Highlands, in the county of Monmouth and State of New J81 sey, this 13th-day ofDecemb'er, A. D. 1929.

. LILLIAN JOHN. 

